BACKGROUND:Inflammation affects the osteogenic differentiation of periodontal ligament stem cells,and the osteogenic ability and autophagy level of periodontal ligament stem cells are closely related.However,there are no relevant reports on whether inflammation affects the osteogenic ability and autophagy level of periodontal ligament stem cells at different stages of osteogenic differentiation. OBJECTIVE:To explore alkaline phosphatase expression and autophagy periodontal ligament stem cells levels in periodontitis and normal conditions. METHODS:Periodontal ligament stem cells from normal and periodontitis patients were isolated and cultured,and underwent Vimentin,pan-CK,and Stro-1 fluorescence staining.At 3,7,and 14 days of osteogenic differentiation,western blot assay was used to detect the protein expression levels of alkaline phosphatase,LC3B,Beclin1,and ATG5 in normal and inflammatory periodontal ligament stem cells.The mRNA expression levels of alkaline phosphatase,bone sialoprotein,osteocalcin,Runx2,LC3B,Beclin1,and ATG5 were detected by real-time PCR. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Stro-1 was positive,Vimentin was positive,and pan CK was negative in periodontal ligament stem cells.(2)At 3,7,and 14 days after osteogenic differentiation,compared with normal periodontal ligament stem cells,the mineralization nodules formed by periodontal ligament stem cells from inflammatory sources were significantly reduced(P<0.01);the expression of alkaline phosphatase protein and mRNA was significantly lower(P<0.05);the mRNA expression levels of bone sialoprotein,osteocalcin,and Runx2 were significantly decreased(P<0.05).(3)At 7 and 14 days after osteogenic differentiation,compared with normal periodontal ligament stem cells,the expression levels of ATG5,LC3B,and Beclin1 proteins and mRNA of periodontal ligament stem cells were downregulated(P<0.05).These findings suggest that inflammation reduces the activity of periodontal ligament stem cells in mineralizing nodule formation and the expression of alkaline phosphatase and weakens the autophagy potential of periodontal ligament stem cells at 7 and 14 days after osteogenic differentiation.

BACKGROUND:Several observational studies have found a close relationship between thyroid function levels and sarcopenia,but the causal relationship between thyroid function levels and the onset of sarcopenia is not yet clear. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the causal relationship between thyroid function levels and sarcopenia using a two sample Mendelian randomization method. METHODS:A two sample Mendelian randomization analysis was conducted using genome-wide association study data on thyrotropin,free triiodothyronine,free tetraiodothyronine,subclinical hyperthyroidism,subclinical hypothyroidism,and four related phenotypes of sarcopenia-lefthand grip strength,right hand grip strength,limb lean mass,and gait speed.The inverse-variance weighted method,weighted median method,simple mode method,weighted median estimator method,and MR Egger regression method were used as analysis methods,while heterogeneity test,pleiotropy test,MR-PRESSO,leave-one-out method,funnel plot and other methods were used for sensitivity analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Elevated levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone increased left-(β=0.02,SE=0.01,P=0.01)and right-handed grip strength(β=0.02,SE=0.01,P=0.01),an increase in free triiodothyronine decreased left-(β=-0.06,SE=0.02,P=9.5×10-5)and right-handed grip strength(β=-0.07,SE=0.02,P=9.3×10-5),and subclinical hyperthyroidism decreased gait speed(β=-4.4×10-3,SE=1.7×10-3,P=0.01).The sensitivity analysis results were basically consistent with the main analysis results.To conclude,an increase in thyroid-stimulating hormone is a protective factor for sarcopenia,and elevation of free triiodothyronine and subclinical hyperthyroidism may increase the risk of sarcopenia.

Objective To analyze the clinical features of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with heart failure (HF) in Nanjing and explore the influencing factors. Methods A total of 773 COPD inpatients were selected from January 2021 to January 2024 in Nanjing Combined Hospital of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing Qixia District Hospital, Nanjing Lishui District People's Hospital, Nanjing Pukou District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Nanjing First Hospital., and were divided into 2 groups according to the presence or absence of combined HF. The general data and medical records of the two groups were compared, the clinical characteristics of COPD patients with HF were summarized, and the influencing factors of COPD patients with HF were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression. Results Among the 242 patients (31.31%) with COPD had HF, chronic paroxysmal dyspnea was the most common first symptom, 169 patients (69.83%) had left heart failure, 63 patients (30.17%) were diagnosed as right heart failure or global heart failure , 17 patients (7.02%) had myocardial infarction. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of HF was 1.678 times and 1.691times higher in COPD groups ≥ 50 years old and male COPD groups than in < 50 years old and female groups, respectively; the risk of HF was 1.491 times higher in COPD groups engaged in physical work than in physical work groups; the risk of HF was 1.447 times and 1.580 times higher in COPD groups with hypertension and coronary heart disease than in COPD groups without hypertension and coronary heart disease, respectively; the risk of HF was 1.859 times higher in COPD groups smoking>400 vial/year than in COPD groups≤400 vial/ year; the risk of HF was 1.757 times higher in COPD groups with acute exacerbation frequency≥2 times/year than in COPD groups<2 times/year; the above differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion Attention should be paid to elderly, male and heavy physical work group of COPD patients. Active treatment of hypertension and coronary heart disease, effective tobacco control and reduction of the frequency of acute exacerbation are effective ways to reduce the risk of HF in COPD patients in Nanjing.

Objective To propose an innovative self-supervised learning method for vascular segmentation in computed tomography angiography (CTA) images by integrating feature reconstruction with masked autoencoding. Methods A 3D masked autoencoder-based framework was developed, where in 3D histogram of oriented gradients (HOG) was utilized for multi-scale vascular feature extraction. During pre-training, random masking was applied to local patches of CTA images, and the model was trained to jointly reconstruct original voxels and HOG features of masked regions. The pre-trained model was further fine-tuned on two annotated datasets for clinical-level vessel segmentation. Results Evaluated on two independent datasets (30 labeled CTA images each), our method achieved superior segmentation accuracy to the supervised neural network U-Net (nnU-Net) baseline, with Dice similarity coefficients of 91.2% vs. 89.7% (aorta) and 84.8% vs. 83.2% (coronary arteries). Conclusion The proposed self-supervised model significantly reduces manual annotation costs without compromising segmentation precision, showing substantial potential for enhancing clinical workflows in vascular disease management.

Objective: To explore the relationship of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) with cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) among middle schoold students in Tibet, so as to provide empirical references for improving the cardiorespiratory fitness and health levels of adolescents in Tibet. Methods: From August to December 2020, 1 225 junior and senior high school students were selected from 2 middle schools in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, using the stratified cluster random sampling method. Triaxial accelerometers were used to evaluate PA and SB behaviors, and the 20 meter shuttle run was employed to assess CRF among the middle school students. Isochronous substitution modeling was used to analyze the associations of SB, low intensity physical activity (LPA), and moderate vigorous physical activity (MVPA) with CRF, and the saturation threshold effect in the dose response relationship between MVPA and CRF was analyzed through restricted cubic spline and two stage linear regression. Results: After adjusting for covariates such as gender, body mass index and sleep quality score, isotemporal substitution analysis showed that among junior high school students aged 13-15, replacing 30 minutes of SB ( B =1.73) or LPA ( B =2.38) with MVPA were positively associated with CRF (both P <0.05). Among senior high school students aged 16-18, replacing SB ( B =0.99) or LPA ( B =1.38) with MVPA were also positively associated with CRF (both P <0.05). Restricted cubic spline and two piecewise linear regression analyses indicated that only middle school girls aged 13-18 exhibited a saturation threshold effect between MVPA and CRF (logarithmic likelihood ratio test=0.03), with the optimal CRF improvement observed at 60 minutes of MVPA per day ( B=0.13, P ＜ 0.01). Conclusions Reducing SB and LPA while increasing MVPA can improve CRF in Tibetan middle school students. To maximize CRF improvement, middle school girls should engage in at least 60 minutes of MVPA daily.

Background Multi-slice spiral computerized tomography (MSCT) can be used as an auxiliary diagnosis of chest radiography in diagnosis of pneumoconiosis, but there are few studies on the correlations between interstitial images and stage classification of coal workers' pneumoconiosis in the existing literature. Objective To present MSCT imaging manifestations and distribution characteristics of coal workers' pneumoconiosis and complications, evaluate correlations between coal workers' pneumoconiosis stages and pulmonary interstitial lesions, and provide a reliable imaging diagnosis basis for pneumoconiosis interstitial lesions. Methods From June 2022 to June 2023, a total of 1002 patients with coal workers' pneumoconiosis confirmed by the pneumoconiosis diagnostic and identification group in the Department of Occupational Diseases of the Emergency General Hospital were enrolled. MSCT was used to observe the abnormal imaging manifestations of the lungs of coal workers' pneumoconiosis patients and the diseases of pulmonary fibrosis related to their own diseases (thickening of the interlobular septum, bronchial perivascular interstitial mass thickening, parenchymal banding, subpleural line, intralobular interstitial thickening, honeycomb, and subpleural interstitial thickening), the occurrence of coal workers' pneumoconiosis and complications (old tuberculosis, active tuberculosis, pneumonia, atelectasis, lung cancer, bronchiectasis), and the density, size, and location of pneumoconiosis nodules. Imaging data were analyzed and statistically processed. Results All 1002 patients were male, with an average age of (60.71±6.87) years and an average dust exposure time of (23.01±7.80) years. Among them, there were 470 patients with stage I, 422 patients with stage II, and 110 patients with stage III. There were significant differences in the distribution of thickening of the interlobular septum, bronchial perivascular interstitial mass thickening, parenchymal banding, intralobular interstitial thickening, subpleural interstitial thickening, and honeycomb across different stages (P<0.05). Statistically significant differences in p, q, and r subsets of round nodules were found in patients with pneumoconiosis at different stages (P<0.05). Observed nodule types included solid nodules, pure ground-glass shadow nodules, and partial solid nodules. There were statistically significant differences in pulmonary tuberculosis and bronchiectasis among different stages of coal workers' pneumoconiosis (P<0.05). There were statistically significant differences in interstitial shadows and patches combined with interstitial shadows among different stages of pneumoconiosis complicated with pneumonia (P<0.05). Conclusion MSCT provides images of the progression of coal workers' pneumoconiosis and have a certain relationship with the stages of coal workers' pneumoconiosis, which is conducive to the formulation of reasonable treatment plans in the early clinical stage. Therefore, in the diagnosis and treatment of pneumoconiosis, a great attention should be paid to the imaging technology of chest computerized tomography, especially the use of MSCT examination.

【Objective】 To investigate the development of adaptability in children aged 2 - 6, and to explore its influencing factors, so as to provide reference for promoting the development of adaptability in young children. 【Methods】 Data were from the National Nutrition and Health Systematic Survey for Children in China, and 3 319 children aged 2 - 6 and their parents from 28 sites across 14 provinces were recruited in this study.The Development Scale for Children Aged 0 - 6 years (WS/T 580-2017) was used to measure the developmental quotient of children′s adaptive ability, and a survey questionnaire was used to collect relevant information about children and their parents. 【Results】 Among 3 319 children aged 2 - 6, the proportion of slightly low or low level of adaptability, moderate adaptability development, good and excellent adaptability development was 7.68%,66.25% and 26.06%, respectively.The proportion of children aged 5 - 6 with good and excellent adaptability was lower in 3-year-old and 4-year-old groups (χ²=59.29, P<0.05).Multiple stepwise linear regression showed that children′s gender (β=0.06), gestational age of birth (β=-0.05), only child (β=-0.04), left-behind child (β=-0.04), the main caregiver (β=-0.06), and the education level of parents (β=0.09, 0.10), whether parents actively pay attention to children′s emotions (β=-0.06) and whether children play with homemade toys (β=-0.04) were the influencing factors of children′s adaptive development quotient.Girls, full-term children, only children, non-left-behind children, children with parents as main caregivers, parents with a high level of education, parents who often take the initiative to pay attention to children′s emotions, and children who play with homemade toys had a higher level of adaptability development quotient. 【Conclusions】 The development level of adaptability in children aged 2 - 6 in China is mostly above the average level and is related to multiple factors.Targeted intervention work can be carried out on relevant factors in order to promote the development of children′s adaptability.

As an important concept in Chinese medicine theory， "qi sinking" is the inheritance and extension of the thought core of sinking of qi in whole body. This article explored the concept of sinking of pectoral qi， center qi， and kidney qi in the theory of qi sinking， and believed that sinking of pectoral qi， stagnation and sinking of center qi， deficiency and sinking of kidney qi were the core pathogenesis of postoperative injury in malignant tumours. Anchored to the method of reinforcing healthy qi and lifting the sunken， this article recommended to identify pattern and treat by guiding supplement and lifting the sunken. For lung gold impairment， heart yang depletion， and pectoral qi sinking， the treatment is to warm and supplement heart and lung， lift pectoral qi， and restore the respiratory function by modified Shengxian Decoction （升陷汤） plus Guizhi Decoction （桂枝汤）； for spleen depletion and pathways blockage， liver failing to act freely， and center qi stagnation and sinking， the treatment is to warm and supplement center qi， raise yang and lift the sunken， and restore the digestive function by modified Buzhong Yiqi Decoction （补中益气汤）； for source exhausted and essence deficiency， liver qi hiding， and kidney qi deficiency to inward invasion， the treatment is to nourish the kidney and astringe the liver， consolidate the original qi and lift qi， improve the pelvic floor dysfunction， and protect the kidney function by modified Liuwei Dihuang Pill （六味地黄丸） plus Shengma Chaihu Decoction （升麻柴胡汤）. Modification need base on different disease patterns and stages， and new ideas for postoperative traditional Chinese medicine treatment and rehabilitation of malignant tumours were provided.

The Republic of China period （1912—1949） was an important stage of transition from traditional herbalism to clinical Chinese materia medica. The clinical application of Chinese materia medica became the focus of academic attention. During the Republic of China period， the research objectives， methods， and content of clinical Chinese materia medica were clarified， and the basic framework of Chinese materia medica was established through efficacy classification and item description. Based on the historical background at that time， striving for survival in adversity were the internal factors driving the construction of clinical Chinese materia medica， and the rise of academic education and the popularity of traditional Chinese medicine journals provided favorable conditions for the development of clinical Chinese materia medica. The clinical Chinese materia medica during the Republic of China period gradually formed a theoretical structure and core content that was distinctly different from that of traditional herbal medicine， which was integrated with the scientific research of Chinese materia medica and promoted the continuous development of Chinese materia medica together with other subdisciplines， presenting distinctive characteristics of the times and important academic significance.

ObjectiveTo explore the effect and possible molecular mechanism of Qinghua Yichang Formula （清化益肠方， QYF） in treating acute radiation-induced intestinal injury mice via NOD-like receptor thermal protein domain associated protein 3 （NLRP3）. MethodsSixty C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into control group， model group， pre-modeling medication group， post-modeling medication group， inhibitor group， and QYF plus inhibitor group， with 10 mice in each group.Except for the control group， the other five groups were irradiated with a single full dose to establish the acute radiation-induced intestinal injury mice model. The pre-modeling medication group and the QYF plus inhibitor group were continuously given 4 g/ml of QYF decoction by gavage before modeling， 0.2 ml each time， once a day for 7 days. The post-modeling medication group， pre-modeling medication group and QYF plus inhibitor group were given 4 g/ml of QYF decoction for 14 days after modeling. The control group， model group and inhibitor group were given 0.2 ml of normal saline once a day for 14 consecutive days. Two hours after irradiation， the inhibitor group and the QYF plus inhibitor group were given an intraperitoneal injection of 0.2 ml of the NLRP3 inhibitor MCC950 （concentration： 10 mg/kg）， once every two days. To observe the pathological changes in intestinal tissues， hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining was used. Western blotting and RT-qPCR were used to detect the protein and mRNA expression levels of NLRP3 in intestinal tissues. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression level of NLRP3， Caspase-1 and GSDMD in intestinal tissues. The proportion of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells in the spleens of mice were detected by flow cytometry. ELISA was used to determine the levels of IFN-γ， IL-18， and IL-1β in mice serum. ResultsHE staining showed no lesions in the intestinal tissue of mice in the control group. The mice in the model group had shortened intestinal villi， thinned mucosal layers， multifocal mucosal necrosis in the lamina propria， and local neutrophil infiltration. The pathological damage of intestinal tissue of mice in each medication group was improved to varied degrees， among which the QYF plus inhibitor group showed most obvious improvement. Compared to those in the control group， the protein and mRNA expression levels of NLRP3 in the intestinal tissue of mice in the model group significantly increased， with higher NLRP3， Caspase-1， and GSDMD protein expression in the intestinal tissue， increased proportion of CD4⁺ T cells in spleen， decreased proportion of CD8⁺ T cells， and increased levels of IFN-γ， IL-18 and IL-1β in serum （P＜0.05）. Compared to those in the model group， the above indicators in the other medication groups were all improved （P＜0.05）.The NLRP3， Caspase-1， and GSDMD proteins in the pre-modeling medication group were lower than those in the post-modeling medication group （P＜0.05）； and the NLRP3 mRNA level in the QYF plus inhibitor group was lower than that in the inhibitor group （P＜0.05）. ConclusionQYF may play a role in preventing and treating acute radiation-induced intestinal injury by inhibiting the expression of NLRP3.